


Into the Weeds

by truet



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Civil War Team Iron Man, Don't Like Don't Read, Gen, I hate your band, Kind of RPF bc some newscasters make an appearance, No Beta, Not Clint Friendly, Not Steve Friendly, Not Wanda Friendly, On fire and plummeting from a height, We die like Pepper
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:15:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24585190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/truet/pseuds/truet
Summary: After the Civil War, the media speculates, the renegade Avengers fume, and Tony gets it done.
Comments: 78
Kudos: 1034
Collections: Tony Stark deserves more





	Into the Weeds

**Author's Note:**

> Moderated for trolls to spare my readers. Don't like, don't read. Or do, and get mad about it. Fine with me.

Steve was bored. Honestly, he never thought he'd be able to say that—the 21st Century was a marvel, no doubt, and he'd spent most of his life either at war or struggling to make ends meet, but now that he and the other loyal Avengers had settled in Wakanda and he had Bucky safe, Steve was bored.

If Buck were awake, it would solve a lot of Steve's problems. It seemed like Steve barely had him back at all, and just a shadow of his usual, joshing self, before Bucky decided to freeze himself because he thought the Winter Soldier might pop up. Steve protested, arguing that the scientists of Wakanda could better solve the problem if he were awake, but Bucky just shook his head and signed the papers that put him under.

"It's his decision, Steve," Sam had said, clapping Steve on the shoulder, as if Steve had no say in their friendship after all they'd been through getting here.

So now Steve just ran endless loops around the royal compound, a beautiful estate climate controlled by advanced machinery and cultivated by whole teams of landkeepers who did nothing all day but test the soil, prune the trees, introduce new types of plants or cut back those that didn't belong. Steve waved to them as he jogged past, but they never responded, too engaged in their work.

When he arrived back at the Avengers common room after a quick shower and change, it was to find Sam, Scott, and Wanda once again glued to watching the television broadcast. Steve just couldn't understand their fascination. The news was so different than in his time, so rude and contradictory and just plain wrong. Lies, for the most part, disguised as fact. 

"Hey, Steve," Sam said. "Want some pilau? We asked for extra."

"No, thanks. That stuff's too spicy." Steve dropped down on the sofa next to Wanda. "Hi, Wanda."

"Hi, Steve." Her voice was subdued, as it always was these days. Steve knew she wanted to go back to New York, where her friends were. She couldn't even talk to them right now. 

He patted her leg. "What's this?"

"I'm keeping it off the international channels," Clint said. "If we watch the American news, we're doing a little better in the war."

"It wasn't a war," Steve said.

"That's what they're calling it."

"Hush. I'm listening," Sam said. 

Steve grabbed a handful of plantain chips from the bowl on the coffee table and sat back to watch. 

["...decide who you trust more, Tony Stark, infamous playboy, or Captain America, upholder of honesty and the true values of this country." The red-faced man looked around at the circle of people on the couch. "Am I right?"]

Steve looked over at Clint and saw him nodding. But Sam frowned. 

"What, Sam?"

Sam shrugged a little. "This is the 'blue lives matter' guy. It's hard for me to get behind him, you know?"

Steve looked a little closer and recognized the group as the ones who'd gotten Sam up in a lather a while back. 

"Well, you know what they say about a broken clock." Steve shrugged.

Sam grunted something.

"Shh." Clint waved. "They've cut to Hannity."

["There's no doubt in my mind that Tony Stark has done something to Bucky Barnes and Captain America. No way would Steve Rogers run away from anyone, let alone the coward who killed Stark Industries' weapons manufacturing arm just because he got a boo-boo."]

Clint crowed, and Steve hid a wince. 

["Stark must have broken the rest of them out of the Raft to drop them into an even darker hole. Or maybe even killed them all. He didn't want Cap and the rest of the Avengers coming back to kick his ass like a little girl. When the Real Avengers break out of whatever prison he's got them in, there will be a reckoning."]

"Booyah," Clint said when the show cut to a commercial. 

"But we aren't kidnapped," Steve said.

Clint shrugged. "By the time we come back, no one will remember we took off ourselves." He pulled out an arrowhead and spun it on the table. "I really hope Stark is watching this."

"He's not," Nat said from behind them. Steve turned, pleased to see her. She'd been holed up in her room since she got his message at the dropsite and showed up in Wakanda a week after them, obviously injured and in no mood to talk about it. She looked better now, like she'd had some good rest and her wounds had healed some.

"You don't think he cares what the media thinks?" Clint scoffed. "He's a media whore."

"Language, please, Clint," Steve said, looking at Wanda, who stared back at him blankly.

"He's a media manipulator," Nat said. "I've seen him using his AI to composite all our media mentions and shove them through some algorithm that tells him whether or not to send out a press release clarifying something on behalf of the Avengers or S.I. or whatever. But he doesn't read his own press. He weighs each broadcast and article based on views for his algorithm." She shifted her eyes to the TV screen. "This show gets a lot of weight because of the viewership."

"That's not good," Steve said.

"No." 

"What're you talking about? They just flamed his ass."

Nat sighed and made a quick move, snatching the remote from Clint's hand. The fighting over the remote was pretty fierce since their arrival, but no one dared oppose Nat when she wanted it. She hadn't even needed any schooling on how to use the Wakandan technology. Steve envied her ease as she waved her fingers over the pad and the channel changed to a white-haired man wearing black glasses.

["...are beginning to question whether Tony Stark tried as hard as he could have to bring in the renegades. The silence from the Stark camp is somewhat ominous. Elena?"

"Thanks, Coop. Multiple attempts have been made to contact Stark, both through Stark Industries and via the Avengers hotline, but no response is forthcoming beyond assurances from The Vision that Tony Stark is alive and recovering from his injuries, as is Colonel Rhodes. The Vision has claimed he is available for emergency situations but only per the Accords guidelines."

Coop frowned. "Does that mean The Vision expects to protect the entire US by himself?"]

Clint scoffed. Nat hushed him.

["According to The Vision, new members have been signing the Accords daily, Coop. It's just a matter of getting the new teams organized."

"Well, that's a relief. Thanks, Elena." Coop straightened his glasses. "Creating new teams wouldn't resolve issues with the old one, though, and according to sources, there are more than a few member nations who want accountability for what happened during the Civil War. If they can't have it from the renegades, they're willing to go directly to the last remaining Avengers. More on that from Sam Kumar, White House analyst. Sam?"

"Thanks, Coop. We have quite a situation developing here, as Nigeria, Germany, and Romania have all petitioned the state department for a meeting with the president to discuss concessions for the Avengers' recent actions overseas."]

Natasha let out a low sound.

[Coop said, "Has the White House responded?"

"The Press Secretary responded with a brief statement that the United States still supported the Accords, and that representatives of Stark Industries and Pym Technologies had been in communication about offering remuneration and disaster support, Pym to Germany and S.I. to all three nations."]

"Right, throw money at the problem," Clint said.

"Shut up, Barton." Scott sounded upset.

"Make me, Ant Boy."

"I'll make you both," Nat said, her voice deadly.

Both men subsided.

["...not in any way responsible for Lagos, so why would he be offering emergency services and support to the victims there? Stark wasn't an active Avenger at the time and hadn't been for a while."

"No comment was made on that subject," Kumar said. "We can only suppose that as the only remaining leader of the Avengers, Stark felt responsible."

"Do we have any idea of where the others might be?"

"Not at this time. Considering they are world famous, it's hard to fathom where in the world they might be hiding. Speculation at present is that they somehow managed to run offworld with Thor's help, or Stark has sequestered them."

Coop looked doubtful. "That seems unlikely, considering Stark is such a strong supporter of the Accords. But do you think the White House will hold Stark responsible for the renegades' disappearance?"

"There are rumors to that effect, yes. It all depends on what Stark has to say when he surfaces."

"Thanks, Sam."

"Thanks, Andy."

"That was Sam Kumar, White House analyst."]

Steve was confused. Was the guy's name Andy or Coop? 

"But that's great," Scott said. "Let them hold Stark responsible."

Nat sighed almost silently. Steve knew that sigh. It was generally accompanied with "Why am I with these idiots?" usually when she found ground coffee in the sink—Steve kept forgetting. He was used to dumping all the food in the sink with the dishes and then scooping it out again for the garden. Except they didn't have a garden in the tower or the compound, and the sink would get backed up because he'd put the dishes in the dishwasher and forgotten the stuff in the sink.

"I think it's a problem because once Stark appears he'll make it clear he had nothing to do with the escape," Sam said, looking to Nat, whose face was so pale and cool, Steve knew she was furious.

"If he appears," Nat said, her eyes on Steve.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, I'm just wondering why he hasn't shown up yet to soothe the masses like he always does."

"He's playing chicken," Wanda says, snorting. 

"Or maybe we could ask the last person to see him before he disappeared," Nat said, not taking her eyes off Steve.

"Hey! C'mon, Nat. Whose side are you on?" Clint said, coming over to her.

She finally broke her stare down with Steve to tell Clint more gently, "I'm on the side of getting all of us out of this alive. And that means having all the information we need to do it. We can't act if we don't have all the facts, Clint."

He took her hand. "And that's why we're catching up on the news. Come on and sit." 

The show currently on had a bunch of stuffed shirts sitting at a round table.

["...my esteemed colleague, Professor Newell, gives too much credence to the ex-Avengers' education. I simply don't believe they all read and fully comprehended the document they were rejecting. Steve Rogers had a high school diploma and one year of art college."]

Steve curled his lip.

["That doesn't mean he's illiterate," Newell, a brown-haired man with glasses, said.

The other man, his tight coils of hair salt and pepper gray, raised an eyebrow. "As a lawyer, I'd be the first to say legal documents are needlessly complex, but no lay person can just sit down and read a 1000-page legal agreement and absorb the intricacies with nothing more than a high school education from the 1940s. Not without help."

Newell ceded the point with a nod.

"And Wanda Maximoff is a street orphan and doesn't even have that. Ditto Clint Barton, who grew up in a traveling circus. The Ant Man has an engineering degree, which makes me think he would have ample education to comprehend the Accords, but he had little time to do it in—only the flight to Germany, and investigators say he was likely shrunk and in Clint Barton's pocket, as there's no evidence of him on the passenger list, but he suddenly appeared at the Leipzig/Halle airport. It's questionable he bothered to shrink the Accords with him or bring the necessary resources to decipher all the legalese."]

Scott got up and left the room. Wanda curled up and hugged her knees to her chest. Steve remembered the hasty conversation he'd had with Scott before the battle. Scott had no idea about the Accords back then. He thought they were there to fight over killer assassins. 

Steve rubbed his forehead. 

["That leaves only Sergeant Sam Wilson, a man well-educated by the armed forces. I wondered what made him reject a document that his own government and one hundred and sixteen other countries supported, and then I read up on Lieutenant General Ross' record. Any man who has served in the military and heard of Ross' abuse of his own forces and how he used his own daughter as bait in pursuit of The Hulk would have zero respect for the retired general and Secretary of State. Ross was spearheading the US support of the Accords. Whether or not this influenced Sergeant Wilson's decision to reject them, I cannot say."]

"This is bullshit," Clint said, obviously fuming. "I didn't need some stupid diploma to tell me the Accords are a shitty idea." 

["You haven't said anything about the Black Widow," the moderator said, shifting his papers around on the big desk.

"Ms. Romanov is an interesting case. Raised and educated by the top-secret Soviet training program called the Red Room, the Black Widow supported the Accords at first. She appeared to recognize their necessity, but then during the fight at the airport seemed to run into an issue of allegiance in fighting her friends. Understandable, I think. It's why the Avengers should never have been sent to contain the renegades. But who else could battle that sort of might?

"In any event, it appears to be no coincidence that the Avengers who sided with the Accords all have master's degrees or higher."

"Or much higher," the mediator said, abandoning neutrality. "Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes as a master's in engineering as well as officer's training, Stark has multiple doctorates, and the Vision is said to have access to the sum of all human knowledge. The King of Wakanda obviously has the finest political education as a leader of his nation, and I understand he is also an engineer."

"Nothing is known about the Spider-Man," Newell said.

"No, that's true. He'll have to remain an enigma."

"But it's your contention that education had something to do with renegades choosing not to support the Accords," the mediator said.

"I think it's obvious."]

Clint hissed and spun the remote until a children's musical popped up on the television. The show was in Wakandan, and the voices were very cheery. Clint waved until the sound was muted and the brightly colored leopards, cheetahs, and wildebeest danced in silence.

"That's utter bullshit," Clint said, his face red. Steve didn't bother to correct his language. Sam rubbed his hands together, his face slack with exhaustion. 

"Well, we wanted to know what people thought." Scott was back, standing in the doorway holding a bowl of sorbet. "It's worse in Europe, you know. If you can handle reading the subtitles."

"Watch the wisecracks, bug guy," Clint said, starting to get up. Steve put a hand on his shoulder.

"Let's not fight amongst ourselves," he said. "Besides, what do we care about Europe? The United States is what matters."

Nat gave him a look like his head was on backwards. "Steve. Ellis isn't going to want to jeopardize America's trade relations with Germany just to protect us."

"What does that matter?" Clint said. "He's a lame duck. He doesn't have to worry about re-election." 

"There was the time Colonel Rhodes saved his life; don't forget that," Sam said. Something in his voice made Steve pause. 

"Oh, right," Scott said glumly. "That was Stark, too, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess." Sam looked like he swallowed a bug.

Nat made a sound of exasperation. "Stark got a commendation along with Rhodes. Stark also saved everyone on Air Force One when the Mandarin blew it up."

"Oh." Steve contemplated the last of the plantain chips. "Then you don't think Ellis will call us back home."

"Unless something changes, Steve, no. No, I don't."

Clint made an ugly sound, and Wanda curled up tighter on the couch. Sam bit his lip and looked away.

"Things will change," Steve said confidently, trying to buck them up. 

For starters, he'd heard only that morning from T'Challa that his own sister was working on a cure for Bucky's triggers.

"They will," he said again, and went to find more chips.

* * *

It was Steve's third effort to get the royal chef to change up the menu a little bit, and she wasn't being completely cooperative. It wasn't that Steve didn't enjoy all the native dishes they were being served, but he hoped he could convince her to try grinding the beef to make hamburger, and possibly making some sort of bun, although he'd seen no sign of bread around beyond the unleavened flat bread they served with everything and used to scoop food up. That really wouldn't do. Steve had just started describing a fat, juicy hamburger when Sam called on the communication bead Princess Shuri had given each of them.

"Get in here, Steve. The ICC is calling a press conference and they mentioned Hydra and Stark."

"Excuse me," Steve said to the chef, and ran at top speed for the communal room. He arrived just as a white-haired gentlemen took the microphone before a podium, a white banner hanging behind him with blue scales above a wreath. 

["Thank you all for coming," the man said in heavily accented English. "My name is Josef Sjöberg. I am an investigator for the ICC's Office of the Prosecutor. 

"As you all know, the primary mission of the International Criminal Court is to help put an end to impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole, and thus to contribute to the prevention of such crimes."

Sjöberg cleared his throat and looked to the side just as Tony Stark stepped out.]

"See? He's fine," Clint said. "Big pretender." Although Tony was obviously still recovering from their battles; Steve could see the remainders of various cuts and bruises on his face and the hint of a black eye, despite the stage makeup.

["Please! Please, all your questions will be answered," Sjöberg said in response to the clamor of questions. "Dr. Stark is here at my request to give a report on the critical work he has been undertaking the past three weeks. 

"I was personally approached by him when he brought me compelling evidence of a sixty-year international campaign of secret assassinations perpetrated by The Winter Soldier, also known as James Buchanan Barnes. Including, I might add, video evidence of the murder of Stark's own parents by Barnes."]

"Holy shit," Scott said. Sam looked at Steve, and Steve fought to keep his expression even.

["Dr. Stark also provided me with video evidence that Captain America, a.k.a. Steven Grant Rogers, had been aware of Barnes' actions for years but for reasons unknown had failed to bring this information to the attention of either Dr. Stark or the authorities."]

Steve kept his eyes trained on the TV as everyone stared at him. Sam already knew Hydra made Bucky do horrible things against his will. What difference did it make if it was Howard and Maria?

["However, once made aware, Dr. Stark immediately began gathering evidence on the individuals responsible for his parents' murders and the other killings The Winter Soldier executed during his tenure. But I won't say further on that subject; rather, I will let the man speak for himself. I introduce Dr. Tony Stark.]

The noise in the room rose to a clamor. 

Steve just sat quietly, watching as Tony approached the podium. His face was still healing, but he looked fine, he looked healthy. Steve had been a little bit worried he'd hit him too hard at the end there, but Tony always bounced back.

Then Tony faced the camera fully, and Steve shivered. Tony's eyes were dark with anger. There was none of the showman, here; none of his father's go get 'em delight. Just rage burning deep in his expressionless face.

["Hello, all. Thank you for time. 

"As Mr. Sjöberg mentioned, I recently came into some information regarding The Winter Soldier that I felt was of international importance, especially since he had the protection of some very powerful people. The ICC is just the place to turn when the State is unable or unwilling to carry out an investigation and prosecute the perpetrators."]

Steve drew in a shocked breath. 

["I found this information at a Hydra bunker in Siberia, where Rogers, Barnes and I had an altercation about whether suppressing this information was cool or not." Stark gave an acid grin. "In the course of this disagreement, Rogers disabled my suit and left me in the Hydra bunker to freeze, unable to radio a rescue team."]

Sam sank his head into his hands with a curse. 

["However, Rogers' 'leave our teammates behind' policy turned out to be useful, because while searching for a way to communicate with my rescue team, I discovered a trove of records spanning back decades on the Hydra supersoldier program. I looked through all of it, hoping to save it and get retrieved before Hydra returned.

"What I discovered was more than enough: movies, photos, and detailed plans to assassinate political heads of state, industrial leaders, diplomats, prominent artists, radical leaders and activists, all of whom were murdered by The Winter Soldier. Included in these documents were the names of the ones who ordered the kills, the criminals behind the deeds. For the last three weeks, with the assistance of the Joint Terrorism Task Force, that's what we've been up to—rounding up the bad guys with a vengeance."

The murmurs grew into a roar of approval.

"Most of the Hydra operatives still living have been arrested for their complicity in murdering countless important figures who stood against Hydra's core principles of racism and fascism. Despite the unnecessary delay introduced by Rogers, who could have put us onto Barnes and thus the location of the bunker that much sooner, the loved ones and family members of the deceased will at long last know, and hopefully find peace in knowing, just what happened to their loved ones, and why."]

Tony's voice trembled on the last part, and Steve felt a pit growing in his stomach that he couldn't shake off. 

["My only regret is whom I have to thank for this. The man behind the Vienna bombing was the one who revealed the truth to me by showing me the video of my parents being murdered by The Winter Soldier. The man who told me the truth is a criminal. But then, the man who kept the truth from us all is a criminal as well.

"Thank you all for listening. There will be no questions."]

Tony shook Sjöberg's hand and walked off stage. Nat switched off the TV.

Clint rounded on Steve and said, "Congratulations! You win the asshole sweepstakes! Man, Tony is just a butthead compared to you. Jesus fucking Christ, Steve."

"Clint, you've only heard one side of the story."

Clint stood over him with his fists clenched. "And whose fault is that? This whole time I've been wondering if we did the right thing. But I guess I knew the truth: the losers are the ones who run." Clint stomped out.

"What he said." Scott thumbed over his shoulder at Clint. "Boy, did I screw up believing in you." Scott went out the same door, leaving Steve with Nat, Sam, and Wanda. 

Wanda rocked back and forth.

Nat looked at her and then Steve. "We sure fucked that up."

Steve nodded, saying in a rush, "But we agreed it would just cause—"

"You said it would just bring up painful memories if we told Stark Hydra killed his parents. I didn't say anything at the time because Project Insight was the priority. But once we knew exactly _who_ killed them, we didn't really have that leeway anymore. I told you it would come back to bite us."

Sam stared at them both, his eyes wide. "That's all you care about? The repercussions? It was fucking wrong! Both of you know it! You were supposed to be fighting Hydra and instead, you helped them!" He sprung up from his chair and started pacing back and forth. "That entire time we were going after Barnes, with Stark's money, while you carried around the shield his father gave him—Jesus, Steve. Barnes killed the guy who gave you that shield. The guy who helped you save Barnes from Hydra the first time around!" 

"I know that!" Steve said, teeth gritted. "Don't you think I know that? But it wasn't Bucky's fault."

"What the hell does that matter? Do you know how many guys I treat with PTSD for friendly fire or civilian casualties that weren't their fault? They still had to be charged for it! They still had to undergo investigation! God, what was I doing?" Sam sagged back down in his seat. "I'm such an idiot. I destroyed my life for nothing."

"No, no, no, Sam—the Accords—"

"Please. The Accords had nothing to do with anything. You went after Bucky when he got charged with the bombing. What did the Accords have to do with that? If Stark found out about...oh. I get it. I get it now." Sam rested his face in his hands, shaking his head. "If Stark found out about Barnes killing his parents, he would have pursued it, and Barnes would have been arrested. You couldn't have that. That's what the whole thing was about. It had nothing to do with the Accords. I was right. God. I'm so stupid."

"And now the whole world thinks we helped Hydra," Wanda spoke finally, her voice rusted and creaky. "Now they will never, ever believe I have been redeemed from my early mistakes. Because I left Stark to join you to cover up for Barnes' sins, and yours," she lifted her head from her knees, her eyes glowing red.

Steve raised his hands. "Wanda. You did the right thing. You know in your heart that this—" he waved his hands. "All of this, is just propaganda."

"What does it matter, if the world believes it? But no, they will all be tried in court, these Hydra murderers, and it will go on for weeks and weeks, and the news will say, where are the sympathizers? Where is Captain America, Hydra protector, and all his friends? And they will look for me, and dig and dig into my bad past. You have ruined me." She rose up from the couch, red tendrils sparkling from her arms, from her hair, from her eyes.

Steve backed away. He looked to his left, but Natasha was gone. 

Wanda tilted her head. "I think there is only one way for me to redeem myself in their eyes, and it's so simple."

"Wanda, let's talk about this," Sam said, his voice very soft. 

She ignored him, her attention trained on Steve. "I don't think you will like it, but I am tired of listening to you."

"Please, Wanda—"

"No, I have had enough of your pretty lies." Wanda lifted her hands. They flowed with red, and God, Steve had been here before, a long time ago.

"No! Wanda!"

"Shut up, Captain." 

A wave of red flashed out, and Steve raised his arm to block it.

* * *

Tony lifted his hand and smacked away the letter he was writing as Rhodey walked in. "Sour patch! Look at you. How're the legs feeling?"

"Better now that I tweaked the timing on the left one. Feels more natural now. But, Tony..."

"Awesome. You should totally patent that port thing. That was really good work." Tony pulled up the schematics of Rhodey's braces to take a look at the timing adjustment port Rhodey had added. 

"I don't have time for—that's not why I came in here, Tones. Vision got a call—"

"Time, shmime. I'll have Friday draft up the diagrams and application for you."

"It would be my pleasure, Colonel Rhodes."

"Yes, fine. Thanks, Fri. Tones, listen. Something's happened with the renegades."

Tony stopped fiddling and gave Rhodey his full attention. "Tell me."

"It's weird as hell." Rhodey dropped onto a lab stool and rolled over to join him. "Wanda contacted Vision to tell him she delivered Rogers to the US Embassy in Nairobi. I checked, and sure enough, according to embassy officials, she made him walk in like a zombie, then directed him to 'Wait here until Tony Stark comes to arrest you.'"

Tony dropped his pet screwdriver. "What the ever-living fuck."

"You took the words right out of my mouth, brother." 

"Doesn't she realize I can't arrest anyone?"

"Apparently not," Rhodey said, a tiny smirk on his face. 

"Well, this is a pickle. Poor little zombie Steve." Tony bit his lip.

"I can see what you're doing there," Rhodey said.

"Now, Sugar Bear, my dreamy peach pie, I have no idea what you're talking about. I," Tony placed his hand on his chest, "have nothing but the deepest compassion for my fellow mind-whammied victim of Wanda Maximoff. In fact, I have just as much sympathy as, say, Steve himself had for fellow victim Bruce Banner. Or, say, yours truly."

Rhodey busted into a grin. "Probably exactly as much."

"Precisely." Tony tapped his fingers on the table. "Well, I guess I'm going to Kenya with the JTTF. Care to join me, old bean?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world."

* * *

"...have the right to remain silent, the right to communicate with an advocate and other persons whose assistance is necessary. You have the right not to be compelled to make any confession or admission that could be used in evidence against you, although truly, that boat has sailed somewhat."

"Tony..."

"Right, sorry. You have the right to be held separately from persons who are serving a sentence; to be brought before a court as soon as reasonably possible, but not later than twenty-four hours after having been arrested. And, to be released on bond or bail, on reasonable conditions, pending a charge or trial, unless there are compelling reasons not to be released. Do you comprehend these rights?"

Steve shook his head.

Tony sighed. "You don't? I can read them again, if you like. It's only my third time through."

"Tony? What are you...?" Steve coughed. "What am I doing here...with you?"

"Ah. The zombie awakens. Here." A crinkling sound, and then something cold nudged Steve's fingers. He blinked his eyes open and found a bottle of water next to his hand. It was already open, which was convenient because apparently his hands were cuffed together and chained to the table he was resting on.

"What?" He swallowed some of the water and then tried again. "What's happened?"

"First, please answer my question. Do you comprehend your rights as I have read them to you?"

"Vaguely."

"Then I'll read them again." Tony's voice was hard, like a diamond. Nothing like his usual easy-going, jokey tone. Steve winced and drank some more water as Tony read through the sheet before him. The lawyerly words didn't sound right. Not like he remembered from the TV shows he'd watched with the Avengers.

"Do you comprehend your rights as I have read them to you?" Tony asked again.

"Yeah, sure. They don't sound right, though."

"That's because you're in Kenya. Nairobi, to be exact."

"I'm...where? How did I get here?"

Tony mouth flicked in an almost smile, and he traded a look with Col. Rhodes. "Well, that answers that. We certainly know at least one of the bordering countries. Maybe we can stop in on T'Challa on our way home."

Steve's heart started beating faster. It cleared his head better than the water had. "Tony, you can't..."

"Can't what?" Tony leaned forward. "You seem to forget who you're talking to, Rogers. There isn't much I can't accomplish when I set my mind to it." Tony sat back again, cooling off dizzyingly fast. "That's not what I'm here for right now. We're here to deal with the hot mess Wanda dropped in our laps. Remind me to send her some flowers, platypus. Include some nettles for veracity." 

Rhodes snorted. "Or some Venus flytraps."

Tony smiled. 

"She wouldn't," Steve said, but his heart sank.

"She would and she did," Tony said with apparent satisfaction. "She whammied you and pretty much everyone in her way and made you drive her to the US Embassy here in Nairobi where she dropped you off like a sack of oats. I had to arrest you three times for you to come out of her spell."

"Where is she?" 

"We don't know," Rhodes said. "And that's a definite problem, but not your concern. You should probably worry more about you, at this point."

Steve lifted his chin. "I didn't do anything wrong."

Tony shared a look with Rhodes then shook his head with a pained chuckle. "Maybe you thought you were doing right at first. But you beat your way into the underbrush pretty fast. And that's why the whole world now considers you a Hydra sympathizer."

Steve swallowed hard. 

"But on one hand, you now have a rabid group of real life Nazis who adore you, so there's that? I mean, if you like that sort of thing. On the other hand, you've also got a list of international terrorist charges as long as my arm. Either way, you're not my problem anymore."

Steve struggled with his handcuffs, momentarily overcome with fury. They didn't budge. Neither did the chain, or the table. 

Tony nodded. "A little gift from me to the Nairobi police force, since I didn't want anyone putting their lives at risk trying to contain you. The elements are all constructed of nanites. It's a little project Rhodey and I have been working on ever since we got our hands on a disk of free vibranium."

Steve stared, appalled. 

"Pretty tight, am I right?" Rhodes said. "Once you get transferred, we can repurpose the nanites into whatever we want. I'm thinking a new garbage disposal."

Tony chuckled, then lifted his hand to his ear. "Hang on. What's up, Vis?" Rhodes nudged him, and Tony shook him off. "Sorry, Rhodey's being a pain. There's no way you just said what I thought you said...okay. Okay. Well, it's up to you. Just say the word if you need me. Right. Later, Vis." Tony dropped his hand and shook his head.

"What?" Rhodes said, shoving Tony again. 

"Vis got another call from Wanda. Apparently she, ah. Really wants to redeem herself as an Avenger. So she went and fetched the other 'Hydra agent' as she calls him, and wants to negotiate their surrender."

"Hydra agent," Steve said dully, not wanting to believe.

"Yeah. She's got Barnes and wants to surrender him to the authorities, along with herself."

Steve started yanking at his cuffs, pulling harder and harder until the pain whited out the screaming in his skull. It was all lost. Everything he'd worked toward, all the sacrifice, for nothing.

"Rogers! Rogers! Stop! You'll tear your hand off!" 

And then there was a pinch in his neck and—

* * *

Steve was bored. Time didn't seem to pass very quickly in the sanitarium—he knew it was called a clinic or some such, but to his mind, it was just the same. They kept him a little dopey with whatever magic Dr. Strange used on him, and he wasn't so angry any longer, but neither could he think so well. 

He tried to explain that to the nice lady, Annie, who ran his group. That he couldn't think very well so how could he talk? But she insisted that he say at least something, so he talked about how he didn't belong here in this time and he wanted to go back to when people made sense and he could do what he needed to do to be a hero and help people.

Annie asked him how he could tell if people needed help. But Steve didn't like that question, so he just closed his eyes and listened, bored. Everything was so boring.

At least he had his superhearing, so he could listen to TV shows down the hall even when it was lights out time. He liked that they played such wholesome TV as The Brady Bunch, but he hated when they flipped to the news.

The news was always frustrating. Especially anytime they mentioned the Avengers and the Accords and how the broadcasters never failed to say what a difference a year made. How the new Avengers were transparent and worked together with local authorities. How the new Avengers were accountable for their actions. 

Nobody can save everyone, Steve screamed in his mind, while on the outside he just lay on his bed, eyes closed, as he listened.

And plotted how to rescue Bucky.

**Author's Note:**

> Nota bene: the text of [the Miranda Warning](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miranda_warning) came from a US Supreme Court case (Miranda vs. Arizona) in 1966; as such, it's unlikely Steve Rogers would know of it, and his lack of knowledge probably had some effect on his actions in the Civil War.
> 
> Also, I only used the JTTF here bec canon does, but they're a US based organization and it should be some international agency (like INTERPOL, except they don't arrest people) that handles the arrests in Kenya and elsewhere. So, I dunno. The movie didn't make a lot of sense, anyway.


End file.
